What is family reunion
Family reunion is a type of long-term visa that allows foreign family members of foreign citizens who meet the appropriate requirements to obtain the relevant Italian residence permit for family reasons.
For more information, you can visit our page on Family Reunion Visa Italy: how to apply.
Types of family reunion
There are mainly two types of family reunion processes that the family member can apply for:
- Reunion with the foreign citizen already in possession of a D Visa in Italy. In this case, the citizen must start the reunion process while still in his/her country of origin but can travel to Italy immediately after submitting the application;
- Reunion with the foreign citizen already resident in Italy, in possession of a valid residence permit. The validity of the permit cannot be less than 1 year and the processing times for this type of family reunion are generally longer than for accompanying reunion.
Changes introduced
The changes introduced to the T.U.I. by Decree-Law 145/2024 are the following:
- “The foreigners referred to in paragraph 1, with the exception of holders of a residence permit following the recognition of international protection, must have acquired, at the time of the reunion request for the family members referred to in Article 29, paragraph 1, letters a), c) and d), an uninterrupted period of legal residency of at least two years in the national territory”;
- The housing suitability (required if you are staying in a private apartment, see further information in our article on the Housing Suitability Certificate in Italy) can be issued by the Municipality only after verification of the number of occupants and the other requirements set out in the decree of the Minister of Health of 5 July 1975, published in the Official Gazette no. 190 of 18 July 1975.
Clarifications
It is specified that, at the moment, the prefectures (competent for issuing the authorization for family reunion) have implemented the first change only for the type of family reunion with a foreigner already resident in Italy.
Furthermore, this change is not currently applicable to the family members referred to in letter b) of article 29, paragraph 1 of the T.U.I, i.e. “minor children, including those of the spouse or born outside of the wedding, not married, provided that the other parent, if any, has given his or her consent“.
Finally, “legal residency” means that the foreign citizen must be regularly registered in the Italian registry for at least two years, before applying for the family reunion in favor of his family member.